Models of Modelling

Abstract

The widelyrecognised Modelsimportance Modellingof models in scientific practiceScientific practice suggests that they should have an equally important role in science education. The meanings attached to the word ‘model’ in the philosophical literature and the psychological literature leads to two canonical interpretations: the ‘models as representationsRepresentations’ view and the ‘models as epistemic artefactsEpistemic artefacts’ view. The latter is argued as being the more educationally valuable of the two. The central role of analogy, thought experimentationThought experimentation, and argumentationArgumentation, in the creation and validation of models – the act of modelling – is explored against a background of the philosophical and psychological literature on the theme. Ways in which models have been developed in educational contextsContexts are then explored, leading to the presentation of the new version of the ‘Model of ModellingModel of Modelling’ that is the basis of this book.